Interview with author Beth Groundwater

Hi, folks!

My critique partner and illlustrious co-host of our Murderby4 site is out of town this week. She's conducted a great interview with a wonderful author, Beth Groundwater.  Thought I'd share a bit with you here.

Here's a bit about Beth: 

Beth Groundwater's debut mystery novel, A Real Basket Case, was released by Five Star to good reviews from Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, and other national publications in March, 2007. It was nominated for a 2007 Best First Novel Agatha Award. To Hell in a Handbasket, the second in the Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series, will be released in May, 2009. Beth lives with her husband, two grown children and dog in Colorado Springs, where she defends her garden from marauding mule deer and wild rabbits and tries to avoid getting black-and-blue on Colorado's black and blue ski slopes. Visit her website at www.bethgroundwater.comand her blog at bethgroundwater.blogspot.com.

 Marta StephensMS: Beth, thanks so much for agreeing to stop by MURDER BY 4 and allowing our readers to see a glimpse into your writing life. Let's start with you. You're an award winning author. What steps have brought you to where you are today in your writing.

BG: It's been a long slog since I started writing fiction seriously in 1999, starting with short stories and moving into my first novel-length manuscript. I've published eight short stories since then, but it took me seven years to reach the point where I signed my first novel publishing contract. My first novel-length manuscript was my training ground, as I applied what I learned about story structure and characterization from writing conferences and books to multiple rewrites. I finally realized I had to put that manuscript away and start on something new, which became A REAL BASKET CASE. I consider myself lucky that I only had to stash one unsold manuscript under the bed before my second one sold. There are many fiction authors who learned the craft on multiple unsold manuscripts. And that's something the new writer needs to be prepared to do, to realize when it's time to put away that first project that you poured so many hours into, acknowledging how much you learned from it, and start something new.

MS: For those who are not familiar with your work, what genre do you write and who do you hope to reach?

BG: I experimented with a number of genres before hitting upon mystery and realizing it was for me. That first manuscript was a futuristic romantic suspense, many of my short stories are mainstream, and I also wrote a hard science fiction novella. When I wrote A REAL BASKET CASE, I knew I'd found my genre. I'm a puzzle-freak (crossword, Sudoku, jigsaw, you name it) and mysteries are all about creating and solving puzzles.

MS: Your second book in your Claire Hanover gift basket series, will be released in May 2009. What can you tell us about this new book?

For the rest of the article, please stop over at Murderby4.

Thanks for reading!

Aaron Paul Lazar